Greetings to our DREs! This page has been created to keep you updated on news specific to your ministry, as well as to assist in communicating important points for you to know as you handle paperwork, CSS timelines, and other aspects of the job. Please check back periodically, because information will be added as needed and under the date it is written so that it is easier for you to scan this page. This is a much more cost-effective way for us to communicate, rather than sending out letters all the time. Additionally, CSS will be creating email newsgroups, so please make sure that the CSS office has your current email or the one you prefer using for this purpose. If there are any changes, please contact the OCP at (508) 674-4681 or email djones@cssdioc.org. Thank you and God bless you in the work that you do in His name!
AUGUST 2010
Some of the training sign-in sheets that have been submitted lately have been reproduced or altered. Please do not alter the form. It was created and formatted the way it is for a particular reason.
On the form, where you see “school/parish,” that means we need you to indicate the name of the school or parish for which the individuals are being trained. If you put both the name of your school and the parish it serves on that line, we are not sure if you want us to put all the names into both database lists (one for the school and one for the parish), or what the intent is.
Some have contacted the OCP to ask why they have not received any updated Excel spreadsheets in a while, or even in a very long time. The answer is simple: if you don’t get an update from us, it’s because we have not received any new information from you. At this time, the Excel spreadsheets go out only to show you what we have added to or changed in your information. If we haven’t received anything new, we don’t send anything out. So, if you have sent us training sheets and CORI forms recently and have not received any updated list, please contact Cheryl Bedard at (508) 674-4681. If you have had any problems with forms arriving at our office, feel free to call to tell us a packet is on the way, or email Debora at djones@cssdioc.org. She can be on the lookout for the forms and send you an email confirming that they have arrived.
PLEASE NOTE!! Training sheets that are sent without all the corresponding CORI forms will not be processed as you might think! The process is that when a batch of CORIs arrive with a training sheet, all the names are on the sheet and have the completed CORI form, with the proper ID, are processed for background checks. Only when the CORI has cleared, are those names entered into the Excel spreadsheets you are used to seeing. If a CORI is submitted and is incomplete, it will be sent back to you. However, if there are one or two CORIs missing, or more, the CORI Department cannot and will not send the sheet back to have you submit the CORI, nor will they enter the training date into the Excel sheet, since there is no corresponding CORI. Given the large volume of CORIs that are submitted to us each year, the CORI Department also cannot hold those training sheets, hoping that a CORI will follow. Thus, if a CORI is submitted later, the training date will show up as missing and you will have to resubmit the training sheet to show that the person was trained.
This may seem punitive, but it is not intended to be so at all. Last audit year, our CORI Department processed over 9,100 CORI forms. There is simply no way that two people can hold and track all of the forms that are sent to us in pieces, as it were. The bottom line is that it is best to take a few minutes and review your paperwork before sending it to us. Complete paperwork saves everyone in the long run and we can all appreciate a smoothly running system!
As always, we appreciate your understanding and cooperation and know that everyone is working hard to ensure that we are in total compliance with the Charter. As much as the details may be annoying at times, it is all in the interest of protecting our children, and there is no way to put a price on the safety of a child.
GENERAL NEWS!
“The Blue Books are coming; the Blue Books are coming!” Whoops, they are here! The new “blue books,” which are now green, are in!! They are the updated Policy and Procedure books for abuse prevention for the Diocese. Since there are nearly 120 sites that need new books, there is no way that we can deliver all of them. If you are heading this way, please contact Debora at (508) 674-4681 or at djones@cssdioc.org and let her know how many books you need. You can pick them up during our regular business hours (Matt, please insert link here). Or, if you are willing to be a pick up site for your area, please let her know so we can deliver books to you and parishes or schools can pick them up at your site. We intend for everyone who has already been trained and is still actively working or volunteering in the Diocese to have a new book. It is effective July 1, so once you get your new ones, the old ones should be recycled or discarded.
Summer is supposed to be a time of relaxation, but not for the OCP Office! Debora is working on new training manuals for all of the individuals who do abuse prevention training or handle CORI processing in the Diocese. The intent is also to schedule training sessions with everyone so that there are no lingering questions over how to do this work. Planning for the training sessions is under way, so stay tuned! In the meantime, check the website (FAQs or Forms pages) for information, or contact Debora directly. Once the manuals are done, the website will also be revised and reorganized to make it easier to find what you are looking for. If you haven’t looked at it in a long time, please check it out. We have added a lot in the past year! www.cssdioc.org
We have a date for our own site audit. It will be the week of November 5, 2010, and by that time, we need to have every site in full compliance with the Charter. The site visit will take an entire week, during which time, the auditors review our record keeping and documentation in detail to see if what we report is accurate. And, they also may make surprise visits to the parishes. Ah, yes, that explains our need to get everyone up to speed quickly. Don’t worry, we are here to help, but we also need everyone working hard to make this happen.
There are also plans to update the video, given all the feedback that we get about it being dated. It is made specifically for our Diocese and has to cover all situations, including parishes, schools and extracurricular activities. As you can imagine, it’s a challenge to do that and please everyone, so if you have ideas for a new format, please contact Debora at (508) 674-4681. This has to be done quickly in order for it to be ready for the big autumn training rush!
MARCH 2010
March 31, 2010
FINAL NOTICE!
This is a final reminder that the ONLY training sign-in sheet that will be accepted after April 1, 2010, is the new one that was sent out in October of 2009. If you are still using the old one, please follow this link to the form and download a master of the new form. The instructions are also on the website, so please read the instructions as well. Many of the forms are being submitted with page numbers, which are only put on in the OCP office, or without the initials of the trainers in the far left column. If you have any questions, please call Debora at 508-674-4681. Any old forms that are submitted after April 1 will not be processed and will be returned to you, meaning that you will need to have your attendees re-sign the sheet on the new form and resubmit it to the OCP.
AUDIT PAGE ADDITIONS
There audit rotation schedule is now posted for both parishes and schools. Please check the audit page of either the DRE Resources section or the School Resources section to see when your site will be audited.
As sites pass their individual audits, they will also be listed on the site. Stay tuned to see who is first!
CORIs
There have been some fairly consistent issues with CORIs that are submitted to the CSS office, so please remember the following:
The new training sign-in sheet, effective November 1, 2009, is the only sheet that will be accepted for trainings. Any sheets from this point forward that are submitted on old forms will be returned and new signatures will be needed. If you need another copy, please contact Debora at 508-674-4681 or at djones@cssdioc.org.
CORIs and training sheets should be submitted as soon as possible after the training has been completed, but no less than once a month. We are getting CORIs that were completed last September, which means they are not on the correct color form. More importantly, anyone who has been volunteering since completing the training, but whose CORI has not been submitted, has been volunteering without going through a proper background check. This is a safety and liability issue for your site, so please remember the Diocesan policy that all volunteers are to be trained and CORId.
Just as a clarification, the renewal times for CORIs are as follows: volunteers must be complete a CORI every 12 months. Employees must complete a CORI every three years.
CORIs cannot be processed without a photo ID. If they are submitted without a copy of the ID, they have to be returned to you. We have no choice.
CORI forms cannot be faxed to the CSS office. The photo ID is unreadable, given the quality of faxes, and the photos come out black, which negates the reason for having a photo in the first place. The only copies that can be accepted are ones that are sent through the mail or delivered to the office.
Many CORI forms are being submitted without proper signatures or with other information missing. If you are unsure of what needs to be filled out, please contact Debora at the Office for Child Protection at CSS. She can walk you through the form and explain it.
It is the responsibility of each parish and school to create a tracking system for when your employees and volunteers need to have CORIs renewed. The Excel spreadsheet that we send to you shows the type (employee or volunteer) for each person as well as the date the last CORI cleared. Some have struggled to find a way to keep track of all of the due dates, especially at larger sites, so here is one suggestion (thank you, Arlene)!
Try going through your lists and breaking up the due dates into quarters, such as Jan. – March, April – June, etc. List everyone in that quarter who is due for a renewal CORI and have them done at the beginning of the quarter. Remember that we have no control over how quickly the state will process CORIs, nor do we have control over how forms are submitted to us. If you happen to send a batch to us during a busy time, there is no guarantee that we can process it as quickly as you might like, and then we still have the unknown with how the state process the forms. Many times, we have to wait 2-3 weeks and then resubmit when the CORIs never come through.
This is also a reminder to submit early if you have an event coming up. We are still getting requests for CORIs to be done in a week or less because of a field trip or other event, and there is simply no way that we can guarantee such a turnover. So, plan early or understand that we may not be able to get all of your volunteers CORId in time.
Every time you get a new Excel spreadsheet from our office, please go through the list. If you see names of people who are no longer working or volunteering for you, please contact us. We keep one master list of everyone who has ever worked or volunteered for you, but the list we send you is intended to be current. Therefore, we need to be advised if anyone joins or leaves your site. Once we have been told, it is our responsibility to update the list, so please also feel free to check our work and let us know if we miss something. Also, if someone changes a last name, we need to know that as well.
Finally, please know that we appreciate all your hard work and do not set guidelines to make your work more difficult. We have to set guidelines because we also have to meet certain standards and cannot do that without your help.
If you have any questions about this or any other topic related to child protection, please contact the OCP at 508-674-4681 or emailing Debora at djones@cssdioc.org.
JANUARY 2010
DRE News – URGENT MESSAGE!!
Please take the time to READ all information sent to you, including brochures, before putting them on a bulletin board or giving them to students to take home. There is a brochure entitled Protecting God’s Children: Sexual Abuse Safety Tips for Parents. Note that the title indicates that it is for parents, which indeed, it is. The contents of the brochure are explicit in terms of what constitutes sexual abuse and potential signs of sexual abuse. This brochure is in no way intended for young children and should not be posted in a place where young children have access, nor should it be sent home in backpacks or given to children to take to their parents. This brochure contains sensitive information that should be given to parents only, possibly at the parents’ meeting held at the beginning of the school year. However you choose to distribute the brochure or any other sensitive information, please take the time to carefully consider who should have access to the information and make sure that it is not located in a place where those who should not have access to it can get it. Our role is to inform parents and protect the innocence of children. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Debora at the OCP: 508-674-4681.
DECEMBER 2009
NEWS
New Listserv Coming Soon!
Early next year, CSS will be setting up a listserv for all the DREs in the Diocese. For those who are not familiar with a listserv, once you register and are added to the list, you can email a question or comment to the list and it will be emailed to everyone who is registered. This is used by the Secretariat for Child and Youth Protection and is a very efficient way of sharing information all across the country, without using postage, paper, or long-distance services. As others respond to your question or comment, it creates a virtual conversation in which you can share ideas, information and problem-solve together without ever leaving your homes or offices. Of course, an administrator must read and clear each message first, but that is how it always works and CSS will be the administrator.
The idea for this came about during various deanery meetings, when it became clear that all the DREs had great ideas but no group really had the time to meet with other groups and share those ideas. Rather than each deanery group recreating the wheel, you can all learn from and help each other, which should make the job more enjoyable. It should also give you more support, as no one better understands your work and the challenges therein than those who are doing it. So, as soon as we have everything in place, we will post a message and you can start registering for the listserv. We hope this will be another useful tool for you. Stay tuned!
New Form DEADLINE!
The packets with the new training sign-in sheet went out on October 28, with the request that all DREs and principals stop using any other form immediately. For whatever reason, some are still using old forms in trainings as recent as early December. If anyone has not received the packet that went out in October, please contact Debora at the OCP as soon as possible. You can call at (508) 674-4681 or email at djones@cssdioc.org. A new copy of the form can be mailed or emailed, whatever you prefer. Because some parishes are slow to move mail from the office to the DRE, there will be some leeway in accepting the old forms. However, after January 1, 2010, NO OLD FORMSwill be accepted. They will be returned and the DRE will need to get the trainees to sign a new form. If there are any questions, please contact the OCP.
Reminder
Please remember to keep the OCP updated on new employees in your parish as well as notifying the office of volunteers or employees who have left the parish. We also need to know if DRE contact information has changed, as that can impact your ability to get information in a timely manner. Thank you for your cooperation!
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Here are some important points to remember in doing your work:
Parish Trips
When you know that a trip or event is being planned in which there will need to be chaperones or volunteers to help with children in any way, plan ahead and check your lists early to see who needs a CORI update or who needs the entire CORI and training. We have no control over how quickly the State of MA runs the CORIs and there is no way that we can guarantee that a last minute request can be met. If we do not have the CORI in time to process it, that person will not be able to serve as a chaperone. The adult can still attend and help the other trained chaperones, but cannot be counted as trained and CORId, therefore cannot be alone with children other than his/her own.
Processing Volunteer CORI Forms and Training Materials – NEW RULE!
There have been a number of questions about why volunteers who have been CORId at the end of the calendar year have to sign new CORI in the new color at the beginning of the calendar year, when CORIs are good for a year and the form was just filled out? The answer is that far too often, we receive CORI forms that were done in September or October and not submitted until the last week of the calendar year. This means that there is no way for a CORI to be processed before the end of the year, given the holiday season. It also means that in the meantime, the volunteer was not cleared to volunteer anyway, which does not make a great deal of sense unless the volunteer was not needed until long after the form was done. Finally, it means that CORIs and possibly training sign-in sheets have been held for too long.
To avoid future problems, there are now two new rules to address this issue and to avoid frustration for all.
All training sign-in sheets and CORI forms should be submitted as soon as they are completed, especially if a large group has been trained or CORId. If the parish is small and there are only one or two people being CORId at a time, there is no need to spend postage for each one, but at a minimum, all CORIs and training sign-in sheets should be submitted monthly at a minimum. If they are not submitted monthly and are held until there is a large batch, there can be a tremendous backlog in the CORI office at any given time and in the meantime, none of those individuals are cleared to serve in the parish.
Any CORI that is done within the last two weeks of the calendar year (December 16 – December 31) will be accepted on that year’s color of paper, provided it has been postmarked no later than January 7 of the following year. Any CORI that was completed prior to December 16 and/or that is postmarked after January 7 will not be accepted. It will be returned and the new color form will need to be completed.
